The Wolves

This is one very eye catching box cover! Ba-dum-tss! The game title is as literal as can be. You play a pack of wolves, and you compete with other wolf packs to be the dominant one on the map. You get to experience the life of a wolf, and all this is done using several clever mechanisms. 

The map is divided into regions, and there are five terrain types. Those six peripheral regions have tokens with quarter, half and full moons. These are the countdown mechanism in the game and one of the ways you score points. Certain actions like recruiting lone wolves to your pack, recruiting wolves from other players to your pack and stealing other players' dens advance the countdown. At certain points in the game these regions will score points based on who has the strongest presence. This aspect of the competition is related to the tempo of the game. 

The game has an interesting core mechanism, and it is related to the six double sided terrain cards every player has a set of. One of them has the same terrain on both sides, and that's the terrain your wolf pack is strongest in. In this example above I am the tundra wolf pack and I am strongest on snow fields. You get to perform two actions on your turn, and performing actions require that you flip between 1 to 3 terrain cards of the same type. All your actions are related to terrain. When you move your wolves, the terrain card you flip determines what kind of terrain they will move to. When you build a den, the terrain cards you flip determine where that den can be placed. It must also be next to one of your alpha wolves. If you don't have a certain terrain face-up, you can't do anything on such terrain. You need flip another card so that you get this terrain face-up. Or if the action you want to perform requires flipping two cards, and you only have one required terrain face-up, you are also stuck. This is the challenge the game poses. You have to plan cleverly what to do and what terrains to do them on, so that you eventually get to perform all the actions you want. You know what's on the other side of each of the terrain cards. 

Your player board is important. A big part of the game is engine building. Yes, I know it sounds weird to talk about wolf packs and engines at the same time. You start the game with many game pieces on your player board. As you perform certain actions, these pieces will be moved to the main map. This unlocks abilities and gives you bonuses. This also gives you points. When you build dens, you can increase the movement range of your wolves, you can increase the number of wolves you get to move per action, and you can increase the influence range of your alpha wolves (called their howl range). 

Wolves hunt in packs. There are five types of prey on the board, and you can score many points by hunting them. To hunt down a prey, you need to have your wolves on three different spaces surrounding the prey. 

This calendar is your countdown timer. Those wolf head coins represent lone wolves when on the map. If your alpha wolves howl near them, you get to recruit them to your pack. You get to place a new wolf on the map, and that coin is moved to this calendar. The moon icons indicate the times when specific regions will be scored. Other than lone wolves, the countdown can also be advanced by poaching wolves from other players and stealing their dens.  

There can be a mean streak in the game, because of how you can steal wolves and dens from other players. This is not easy to do though, and there are ways you can defend against it. To steal a wolf or a den from another player, the action is called Dominate. To do it, you need three terrain cards of the same type. This is only possible with your dominant terrain type. If your opponents want to avoid getting Dominated by you, they just avoid placing dens or regular wolves on your dominant terrain. Only regular wolves can be converted, not alphas. Another way to stay safe is to have two pieces on the same space. You are not 100% safe relying on terrain only. One type of bonus in the game is the terrain token. When you have such a token, you can spend it and treat it as any terrain card. This way, you can steal an opponent piece with 2 terrain cards which are not your dominant terrain, and 1 terrain token. You can even do it with 1 terrain card and 2 terrain tokens. Terrain tokens are hard to come by though, so you probably don't want to spend them like this. 

Right from the get go, you have many options. There are several different ways to grow your pack and score points. You can't do everything, and you will choose to focus on some. In one game I lost out in competing for area majority in the regions, but still did pretty well because I advanced in other areas. I like that when you advance in the various areas, they are not just a mechanism for scoring points. They do affect how effective your pack is. You do want to be able to mobilise more wolves, and to have them move further. This makes the game feel real and thematic. 

I was the blue wolf pack and many of my wolves and dens were stolen by others. Animals! 

I enjoyed The Wolves. It's a mid weight strategy game. It's thematic. It has a clever mechanism. You feel there are many things you want to do, and you are forced to prioritise. You have to plan smart and get your terrain cards on the right side. Scheduling your terrain flipping well to be able to achieve several goals through a few consecutive turns is rewarding. The engine building part of the game is satisfying. You grow your wolf family, and you stand proud at its head. 

I have maxed out my prey type and wolf speed.